This blog is back from the arduous process of applying to grad school. During that time I did not stop watching movies (of course), so expect more frequent posts as I work to catch up with my thoughts on:

The Hurt Locker, Avatar, and other Oscar musings
Sophie’s Choice
The Heiress (1950 nominee)
Ordinary People (1981 winner)
Pygmalion (1939 nominee)
Moonstruck (1988 nominee)
. . . and more . . .

Back to the task at hand: 1954 Oscar winner From Here to Eternity, a film that seems especially relevant as I have been learning more about WWII thanks to HBO’s new series The Pacific. “Eternity” was an enjoyable introduction to Burt Lancaster (Sgt. Milton Warden) for me and showcased yet another strong, brooding performance by one of my new favorite actors, Montgomery Clift (Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt). In addition to winning Best Picture, all of its leading and supporting actors were nominated for Oscars. Although I wanted to like this film as much as the Academy did, I couldn’t quite get there.

This is not your typical war movie. Most of it takes place just before the attack on Pearl Harbor, so much of the plot revolves around the relatively petty dramas of the soldiers stationed there during peacetime. Lancaster’s character begins an affair with his boss/commanding officer’s wife (Deborah Kerr). Private Prewitt (Clift) endures abuse from his new unit for refusing to join their league boxing team and chases a beautiful nightclub employee (Donna Reed). Prewitt’s reputation as a great fighter precedes him but he is haunted by the death of his last opponent. Frank Sinatra provides some comic relief in one of his early acting roles as a hard-partying private and Prewitt’s only friend. Lancaster and Clift steal the show with excellent performances, while the leading ladies take turns over- and under-acting.

In the last quarter of the film the tone changes dramatically as it spins round to focus on the Pearl Harbor attack and ensuing battle. Peacetime conflicts fall by the wayside as the soldiers fight to survive: a fascinating shift. From Here to Eternity is definitely worth watching, I just wish it followed through with the character studies that were so interesting at the beginning of the film. The complexities of the four leads are virtually abandoned by the ending, which feels abrupt and unresolved. When a film begins so deliberately, I tend to want a conclusion that feels equally paced.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is another 1968 Best Picture nominee, and I’m beginning to think that this was the year that Hollywood made the transition from old to new. We can see it in the subtle changes in artistic direction, but even more so in the content. Consider the year’s nominees and the controversy they created: In the Heat of the Night, The Graduate, Bonnie and Clyde, and of course our subject.

“Guess Who” is set in the same year it was released (1967). It is about an interracial couple who return to their native San Francisco from a whirlwind Hawaiian vacation to meet each other’s families and announce their engagement. Joey Drayton (Katharine Houghton) is a young white woman with self-described “liberal” parents (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy). She is surprised by their shock and concern over the impending marriage. Her husband-to-be is Dr. John Wade Prentice (Sidney Poitier), an African American, slightly older widower. His character is intentionally written without flaws, so that any objection Joey’s parents could raise to the marriage would have to be racially-based.

Dr. Prentice has delayed telling his parents about the engagement, too. They are less than thrilled when the news is sprung on them at a dinner with the Draytons. What ensues is a series of fascinating differences of opinion between members of both families – different genders, races, and generations. While the issue seems outdated now, it is important to remember that at the time, interracial marriage was still illegal in many U.S. states until the year this film was released.

Guess Who is essentially filmed in “real time”: the action takes place over the course of one evening. Since all the “action” is dialogue, the film requires (and has) an all-star cast of actors. All of them agreed to the film based on its premise, before even reading the script. Their commitment to the project is impressive. Spencer Tracy’s health was failing quickly, so shooting schedules had to revolve around him. Sidney Poitier shot many of his scenes without Tracy, talking to an empty chair. Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, his long-time partner and co-star, put their own salaries in escrow so that if he died during filming, his part could be replaced by another actor. He lived long enough to complete the project, and passed away only a few weeks after filming was completed. Rumor has it that during Tracy’s famous final monologue, Hepburn’s tears are real. She understood better than anyone that this was his final performance.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is a statement film, but it’s also more than that. It’s an homage to Spencer Tracy, one of the earliest “realistic” actors in an era when most of his contemporaries were still giving stylistic, overdone performances. It also surrounds him with a cast of equals; actors whose strong, subdued performances keep the movie artistically relevant today.

“Larry won’t play Rhett Butler, but I shall play Scarlett O’Hara. Wait and see.”
- A then-unknown Vivien Leigh, on her famous husband Laurence Olivier

Gone with the Wind (Wind) is a movie I’ve seen many times, but it was on TV recently and provided a good refresher for a blog post. This film reminds me of my grandmother – it’s the only one I remember her voicing a positive opinion about – and of staying home sick from school, when I had the time and inclination to sit through the movie in its entirety.

Wind is the quintessential “epic,” a film that covers an unusually long period of time for a movie and takes place during a significant and dramatic period (in this case, the Civil War era South). The story revolves a spirited and spoiled Southern belle named Scarlett O’Hara (Oscar winner Vivien Leigh). Scarlett is too clever for her surroundings and the limited opportunities afforded to the women of her time. She has nothing better to do than flirt with every man in the county and pine after Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard), the one she can’t have. Although part of Ashley is in love with Scarlett, he is an idealistic Southern gentleman already engaged to Melanie Hamilton (Oscar nominee Olivia de Havilland), a walking saint and Scarlett’s polar opposite.

Throughout the film, Scarlett is adored by men and despised and envied by women. Ironically, her best and most loyal friend turns out to be Melanie.

The action begins on every level at a party on the Wilkes plantation. The Civil War breaks out and all the young men leave to enlist. Scarlett confesses her love for Ashley but is rejected, and he announces his engagement to Melanie. Scarlett is horrified when she realizes a mysterious and wealthy out-of-towner, Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) overheard her entire conversation with Ashley, and the two begin a verbal and emotional sparring that continues for the duration of the film.

Reeling and outraged by Ashley’s rejection, Scarlett accepts a marriage proposal that same day from Melanie’s brother, Charles Hamilton. Just after their wedding, Charles leaves for the war and dies nearly instantly. Scarlett as a young widow is comical, and it is at this point that the adventure really begins as Scarlett’s continues to run into Rhett Butler and struggles to maintain close proximity to Ashley through her manipulative friendship with his wife.

Scarlett weathers both desperate poverty and empty extravagance over the years, and her ruthless will to survive overtakes most of the idealistic men around her, who cannot seem to adapt to the harsh realities of war, death and hard work. Rhett is her only equal, if only they can manage to both be in love with the other at the same time.

Wind is important in all the ways a film can be important: historically, financially, topically, critically. Accounting for inflation, it remains the highest-grossing movie of all time. It was so long in production that by the time it was released in theaters, audiences had heard so much about it that they rose for standing ovations as soon as the title came across the screen.

Wind represented one of the first instances of an actor cursing onscreen and explored controversial subjects that pushed the boundaries of censorship at the time. Virtually the only roles available to African Americans in the film were as slaves. Nevertheless, some of the parts were significant, and Wind afforded the first African American ever to be nominated for, and later, win, an Oscar (Hattie McDaniel).

Gone with the Wind is one of the enduring classics; its relevance and importance seem only to increase with time. If you haven’t yet, you should see this movie for every reason.

Bonnie and Clyde was a hugely celebrated film; nearly everyone involved was nominated for an Oscar. Most of the recognition was warranted. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway have individual screen presence and great chemistry together as Bonnie and Clyde. The script is good and the direction and cinematography are even better. In fact, watching Bonnie and Clyde feels a little bit like a lesson in Film 101.

The movie is based on the true story of the romantically involved anti-heroes who robbed a string of banks during the Great Depression. Bonnie and Clyde were romanticized back then just as they are in the film, and Beatty and Dunaway feel perfectly cast for the purpose of making the characters appear sympathetic, hapless, and even strangely innocent.

Beatty was more than just a good young actor – he produced the film, contributed to the script without screen credit and managed most of the casting.

Bonnie and Clyde was one of the films that marked the beginning of the New Hollywood area, pushing the boundaries of content and style. It feels transitional watching it, and the other 1968 nominees, In the Heat of the Night, The Graduate, and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, illustrate the movement even more clearly.

1. “I want reliable people, people who aren’t going to be carried away. After all we’re not murderers in spite of what this undertaker thinks.”

2. “The only currency you have in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool.”

3. “Some people hear their own inner-voices with great clarity, and live by what they hear. Such people become crazy or they become legends.”

4. “You have so many extraordinary gifts! How could you expect to live a normal life?”

5. “The only thing you have to be by 23 is yourself.”

6. “I could easily forgive his pride had he not mortified mine.”

7. “I object! Can you recall the dates of these alleged tardies?”

8. “What was I supposed to do – call him for cheating better than me, in front of the others?”

9. “You will inherit your fortune. We cannot even earn ours.”

10. “Listen, baby, when we first met – you and me – you thought I was common. Well, how right you was.”

11. “I’m not living with you! We just occupy the same cage, that’s all!”

12. “You look better than Veronica Lake.”

13. “Here we are – Sunset and Camden!”

14. “My daughter is in pain! Can’t you understand that?! Give my daughter the shot!”

15. “If you don’t have anything nice to say about anybody come sit by me.”

16. “If you’re going to sleep this late, you’re going to miss a few mini-dramas.”

17. “It seems to me that, I mean, except for being a little mentally ill, she’s pretty normal.”

18. “You’re my best friend. Marry me.”

19. “I asked myself, ‘why would he do this, he knows I’ll come after him?’ Then it occurred to me. He knows I’ll come after him.”

20. “Listen, I don’t mean to be a sore loser, but when it’s done, if I’m dead, kill him.”

1. The Godfather, 2. Almost Famous, 3. Legends of the Fall, 4. Little Women, 5. Reality Bites, 6. Pride & Prejudice, 7. Clueless, 8. The Sting, 9. Sense and Sensibility, 10. A Streetcar Named Desire, 11. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 12. L.A. Confidential, 13. Singing in the Rain, 14. Terms of Endearment, 15. Steel Magnolias, 16. The Big Chill, 17. Benny and Joon, 18. Walk the Line, 19. Quiz Show, 20. Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid

Gandhi was a huge undertaking for me, but worth it. It’s long, it’s subdued and it’s deep – an excellent history lesson on the life of a revolutionary, but similar to The Killing Fields (the last nominee I watched) in tone: it’s not a movie you just pop in.

As with The Killing Fields, I was disappointed in myself for how little I knew about the subject. I was surprised to learn Gandhi was a successful lawyer before he gave everything up to live among the poor in India. It was amazing how far he advanced the basic rights of the Indian people and how much notoriety he gained while living such a ferociously simple life of poverty and peaceful resistance. The film’s impactfulness should be credited mostly to Gandhi himself (there was no way this movie could not be impressive) and secondarily to Ben Kingsley, who transforms himself for the role of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi with great success. His performance earned him the Oscar.

To examine the plot, or more of Gandhi’s life, would give away the story. Instead, I will simply say this is a great film with great performances, well worth a viewing if only to educate yourself about this historic figure.

In fact, the two categories I predicted incorrectly – best supporting actress and best director – were even less surprising than I thought they might be! Penelope Cruz was the favorite to win BSA, and Slumdog Millionaire was pretty obviously going to win best picture, so it makes sense that Danny Boyle would win for direction.

Yawn. I recall last year being a little more suspenseful.

The Killing Fields is an almost overwhelming history lesson on the Vietnam War, specifically the atrocities in Cambodia. Non-history buffs like myself may feel a little excluded, as director Roland Joffe makes no effort to provide the audience with background about what is going on or who is on whose side. Whether that’s his way of reflecting the chaos of the situation or the sadly inaccurate perception that people understand this part of American history I don’t know. The audience is left to their own devices or, in my case, the pause button and Wikipedia, in establishing the historical backdrop of this gripping human drama.

This is the true story of New York Times Reporter Sydney Schanberg (Sam Waterston), who bravely (or stupidly, some argue) navigates the dangerous upheaval in Cambodia to report on the U.S. Armed Forces’ involvement. His translator, Cambodian journalist Dith Pran (Dr. Haing S. Nor in an exceptional, first-time performance), becomes a close friend. Despite the dangers they face daily, Sydney knows he and the rest of the foreign press corps can exit safely from their embassies at any time, and they are eventually forced to do just that. Not so for Pran, whose journalist friends work feverishly to save his life by getting him out of the country.

The Killing Fields is a truly amazing story of humanity’s ability to endure and fight for survival, and a subtle tribute to journalism. Roland Joffe has a talent for getting his audience emotionally involved immediately, and telling a story about people in the midst of complex plot. The conflict here is not the war, it’s Pran’s personal struggle to survive a national genocide.

Best Actor
Nominees: Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Sean Penn (Milk), Brad Pitt (Benjamin Button), Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Who should win: Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler
Who will win: Sean Penn for Milk. More people saw it and more people love Sean.
View This Poll

Best Actress
Nominees: Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Melissa Leo (Frozen River), Meryl Streep (Doubt), Kate Winslet (The Reader)

Who should win: Kate Winslet. She’s the youngest person to receive as many nominations as she has – and she’s never won.
Who will win: Kate Winslet. She’s the youngest person to receive as many nominations as she has – and she’s never won.
View This Poll

Best Supporting Actor
Nominees: Josh Brolin (Milk), Robert Downey, Jr. (Tropic Thunder – seriously), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight), Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)

Who should win: Philip Seymour Hoffman, even though it feels like he just won for Capote.
Who will win: Heath Ledger. Unfortunately, he was passed over for the award he should have won (Brokeback Mountain), and everyone thought he’d have more time.
View This Poll

Best Supporting Actress
Nominees: Amy Adams (Doubt), Penelope Cruz (Vicky Christina Barcelona), Viola Davis (Doubt), Taraji Henson (Benjamin Button – the mom), Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)

Who should win: Taraji Henson
Who will win: Taraji Henson
View This Poll

Best Picture
Nominees: Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader, Slumdog Millionaire

What should win: Slumdog Millionaire
What will win: Slumdog Millionaire
View This Poll

Best Director
Nominees: David Fincher for Benjamin Button, Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon, Gus Van Sant for Milk, Stephen Daldry for The Reader, Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Who should win: David Fincher for Benjamin Button
Who will win: David Fincher for Benjamin Button. If he doesn’t I’ll be surprised, and if he doesn’t it will be Van Sant.
View This Poll

Stay tuned! More polls to come in the “secondary” categories. . .

How did Queen Elizabeth really feel about Diana? Most of us can remember where we were when we heard about the death of the former princess. But until I saw The Queen I did not think about what went on behind closed doors in the royal family, especially during that time.

Patching together imaginings and secret interviews with sources close to the Windsors, this film gives a rare glimpse into the realities and responsibilities Queen Elizabeth has faced, especially during the unprecedented events and criticisms that followed Diana’s death. I’m pleased to report that this movie is better the second time you watch it, although it is such a subtle and understated character study I bet many people find it unbearably boring. It certainly teeters on the verge.

Helen Mirren bears a freakish resemblance to Queen Elizabeth, but her performance was much more than an impersonation and fully deserved the Oscar it won. It’s Mirren, and Michael Sheen as a young Tony Blair, who keep this story interesting, insightful and thought-provoking throughout.